42 STATE POMOLOGIOAL SOCIETY. 



OKGAXIZED IIOirnCULTUlJE IX THE STATE OF :S1AIXE. 



By 1). II. Kxowi.TOX, Fanniagtou. 



The beginning of things is not easil}' determined. We may 

 trace the development step by step, but like the m'rage on the 

 desert waste, the nearer we approach it the farther it seeuQs to be 

 from us, and at the moment when our search seems to be rewarded 

 the whole disappears from our view. This is as true in pomology 

 as in other things, and here in Maine we are able to marlt its pro- 

 gress, while its origin goes back into the dim history of other 

 states and countries. The early settlers in the interior of the 

 state were a hardy, independent class of people, who with their 

 own hands produced their homes and provided them with all the 

 necessaries of life, which now and then were supplemented with 

 some luxuries. The first effort was in the direction of home mak- 

 ing and support of the family. At the same time it is narrated 

 that many of the early settlers coming from localities where fruit 

 was grown brought with them seeds of apples and pears. Those 

 were planted and watched over with a sort of paternal interest until 

 the trees bore fruit to reward the planter for his care, and for long 

 years after brought forth fruit to cheer and invigorate succeeding 

 generations. Pear and apple trees, that have outlived a century's 

 winters, mark the site of many an early home. 



It may be asked what relation these venerable and sadly neglected 

 trees have to the present condition of fruit culture in the state ? 

 Our reply is, they have very much to do with it, for tbey were the 

 pioneers of fruit culture, the spies if you please that were to gain a 

 knowledge of the newly settled land. Their roots ran deep down 

 into the soil, and their branches floated in the breezes, and in this 

 way they soon bore evidence that soil and climate were favora- 

 ble for tbe production of luscious fruits. They tell us as we 

 behold them that nature has provided all the conditions neces- 

 sary, and that successful fruit growing in Maine only needs the skill- 

 ful hand of the intelligent husbandman to yield bountiful returns for 

 his labor and care. 



THE FIRST ORGANIZATION. 



The first attempt at an organization of fruit growers in Maine 

 was made in 1847, when the Maine Pumological and Horticultural 



